Police concerned they weren't notified of gun at Robbinsdale school until days later
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- Students packing heat at two Robbinsdale middle schools. Police are investigating both cases.
School officials say they began investigating as soon as the gun incidents were brought to their attention.
But as Reg Chapman reports, police are concerned because they weren't notified until days later.
MORE: Police chief: Golden Valley school wants a warrant before handing over video of student with gun
Police confirm a video from Sandburg Middle School started the first investigation. It shows two students in the bathroom with what appears to be a gun.
Robbinsdale school officials say the video was sent to them late on Nov. 11 but they didn't investigate until Monday.
"It was the school team that took the next steps on this they then went into their investigation to really confirm what is actually true and the details of what they were seeing in the video," said David Engstrom.
Superintendent David Engstrom says that the investigation took time and a letter was sent out four days later to parents, letting them know about the video, even though it was being circulated online.
On Friday, Sandburg administrators heard a statement that a student may have brought a gun to school on Thursday. Engstrom says the investigation is ongoing, but there is no proof that a gun was actually brought to school. He added that he did not report the incident to police in this case either, as there was no immediate threat to the school.
Engstrom says staff at Robbinsdale Middle School were alerted to a student with a gun inside the school late Tuesday night. During that investigation, they learned a threat had been made against the school online.
Robbinsdale police are investigating this incident.
Golden Valley police are looking into the video from Sandburg Middle School.
The chief says he has concerns about how this was handled.
"We just want the public to know that if we had known beforehand we would have taken the appropriate steps to address this issue with the school district," said Virgil Green.
Engstrom says since there was no immediate threat, the district did what was necessary to gather facts first and protect student rights.
"When it is a threat that happens potentially after hours and it might come in the form of a video or a phone call, then it's that point we need to do our full investigation first and then we involved the police department," Engstrom said.
Chief Green referred to state statutes that say a school board must adopt a policy requiring the appropriate school official to report a student possessing an unlawful firearm to the criminal juvenile justice system as soon as possible.
He says, "Almost five days later isn't practicable."
